Which to use
“fêtent” and “filent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,045
- “fêtent” frequency rank
- #31,030
- “filent” frequency rank
- 62075
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fêtent | filent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fêter. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de filer. |
Where the eye mixes fêtent and filent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fêtent and filent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between fêtent and filent
A purely visual mix-up. fêtent (\fɛt\) and filent (\fil\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fêtent is recorded at frequency rank #31,045, classified as averb, pronounced \fɛt\. filent is at rank #31,030, tagged as averb, pronounced \fil\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 62075, this pair ranks #88,950 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fêtent vs filent
Shared letters: efnt. Private to "fêtent": ê. Private to "filent": il.
"fêtent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "filent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- filent ← ffilent · fielnt · filennt · filentt · filetn · fillent · filnet · flient
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fêtent" and "filent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fêtent" or "filent"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fêtent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,950 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fêtent" and "filent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filent vs filez". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #88,950 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.